A Second Chance
by Carissime
Summary: Severus finally gets that opportunity he has always secretly wanted, to prove that he's not like his father. To prove that he deserves his chance at happiness. Fluffy one-shot, rated for safety. Loosely follows 'Little Witch' bit can be read on its own.


**A/N**-Obviously, I still own nothing, just the plot. All characters and settings belong to JK Rowling.

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><p>"Severus!" Hermione called from the bathroom in Spinner's End, panic clearly evident in her voice. He leaped from their bed like he'd been stung, his years of spy work making him very jumpy at any perceived threat to his loved ones. Bursting into the small room, he skidded to a halt at the sight of his heavily pregnant wife clutching her swollen stomach through her nightgown, tears beginning to slide down her face. A spreading pool of water was on the floor around her bare feet. "Please, it hurts… I didn't want to wake you but I don't know what to do and I think the baby's coming." She babbled, the new urgency of the situation making her fearful.<p>

Swallowing nervously, Severus nodded. Seeking to reassure her, he said "It's going to be perfectly fine love. Merlin knows you've been planning this exact moment for months on end." True to form, he used a mild form of snark to disguise just how nervous he actually was.

Up until now, the thought of the baby hadn't felt quite real, despite Hermione's weeks of sensitivity to certain foods, frequent vomiting, even the baby kicking under his touch. The early stages of her pregnancy hadn't been the easiest for either of them, as her sickness and aversion to raw foods greatly disrupted both their work and their home lives. As she had grown bigger and eventually admitted defeat to stay home, new pleasures emerged as the baby developed far enough that they could feel her movements in Hermione's womb. Once, they had spent a whole afternoon just lazily experimenting with different stimulus, just seeing if the baby would respond. The low, smooth timbre of his voice already seemed to be a favourite. Yet, despite all this, the previous months still held a sense of unreality, as if it had all been the dream of one desperately lonely man.

"Are you still able to Apparate?" Taking her quick nod as affirmation, he carefully led her downstairs, magically dressed them both, and having collected her bag apparated the pair of them to St Mungos.

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><p>Severus Snape seethed in an uncomfortable chair in St Mungo's, glaring at anyone who so much glanced at him. The Healers wouldn't let him in the room, saying he was just going to get in the way. He'd give them in the way, who did the think they were? That was his wife in there, and all he could do was sit and listen to her screaming. They had kicked him out almost as soon as they had arrived, although they'd let Jean in after he went to collect her. Apparently there had been some sort of complication with the baby, her heartbeat was too slow and the prolonged labour was wearing his wife down. It had been six hours so far, and all Hermione had been able to do was breathe through the contractions as 'any pain relief would negatively affect the process at this point'. While he knew that their health was a priority, he couldn't see why they couldn't do something, anything, to stop her hurting so badly. He fingered his wand, considering hexing everyone in the blasted place until they let him in, restraint be damned. He<em> needed<em> to see his family.

"Mr Snape?" A short intern asked timidly, almost quivering under his hard gaze. "Healer Matthews says it's okay to go in now, she's stable."

Completely ignoring the young man, he stalked past and was beside his wife within moments. Taking her hand, he winced imperceptibly as her grip became vice-like with another contraction. According to Jean, she had only just been allowed to start pushing.

"Come on honey, she's nearly here now." Jean Granger encouraged her daughter from the other side of the small hospital bed.

Severus just gave what he hoped was a reassuring squeeze to her hand, as her cries reached new heights. Thankfully, she was no longer in any danger, but she was most certainly still in pain.

The Healer was saying something now, most likely trying to get her to keep going, but Severus was too focused on his wife's red face to notice. His ears felt like they were filled with cotton wool, but that didn't stop him from whispering words of comfort and love to her, too low for the others to hear.

Suddenly, Hermione gave one final, piercing cry, and he could only assume that his child had finally been born as the new silence was filled with an infant's squalls. The room became a blur of activity then, the Healer drawing a small red form from where the towel blocked his view to Hermione's chest, laying the baby gently against the new mother. He watched in relief as she positioned her arms to accept the tiny girl, reluctantly allowing the Healer to take her for cleaning minutes later. She turned to him, giving him an exhausted but truly radiant smile as he leaned down to press a kiss to her forehead, pretending not to notice as a tear passed from his face to hers.

"I love you." He breathed, as their baby was returned to them by the Healer, his lovely wife immediately holding the small pink bundle to her chest. Stroking the baby's soft cheek, he silently asked permission to hold her.

Smiling, Hermione offered his newborn child to him, her small form now clothed in a white sleeping suit. Gently taking the child, he cradled her in his arms with a tender ease. A sense of absolute euphoria filled the man then, similar only to the feeling he had when he caught sight of his then-fiancée at the end of the aisle. That this tiny life was one he had helped create, that his incredible wife had given him so precious a gift was almost beyond his comprehension. For once, the man was at a loss for words.

Their baby's small fists flexed as he reached down to adjust the white hat atop her head, grabbing his thumb in a surprisingly strong grip.

"Have you decided on a name?" The Healer prompted. "Only, I need to write her birth certificate."

Hermione smiled knowingly, looking over to the sight of her husband holding their little daughter with a look of pure, raw love on his normally dour face. "Aurora Eileen Snape."

Quietly, Severus huffed with amusement at his wife's choice. Yes, he supposed, this child signified a dawn for them, and his second chance at happiness.

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><p><strong>AN**-Love it, hate it? Tell me in the reviews! I am forever grateful for any criticism I can use to improve my writing.


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